Don't Get Caught in the Google Penalty

In a recent panel at a SXSW 2012, Matt Cutts of Google talked to the changes that are coming to Google search. He noted that the search engine giant will be rolling out a penalty for over-optimized websites as it deploys its updated search algorithm. But what did he mean by “over-optimized”, what does that mean to your website and why would Google make this type of change?

 

 

Flag on the play! Too much optimization on the field.

As a search engine, Google’s job is to provide the best results possible for any search query. One analogy that I have heard that is extremely apt is to think of Google as a Real Estate agent. Like any good Real Estate agent, their job is to show you the best properties for your needs. And, under most situations, Google can do just that because it uses its database to find the right Web properties.

The issue of false positives – poor results and nonsense listings – comes up when a website portrays itself differently than it is. This means that they use keyword stuffing, buy links and essentially try to pass off a mediocre or deceptive piece of Web property as stellar. This makes Google look bad and keeps it from doing its job. Search consumers get frustrated with hundreds of thousands of useless listings that clutter up their search results and blame the “messenger”.

So, as a way to mediate this issue, they will be rolling out a penalty for websites that are heavy on the optimization, while skimping on the good stuff (content, relevancy, contextual tags, etc.). Google is presenting this new move as leveling the playing field for big and small Web properties alike.

You only need to be concerned about this change if your basics aren’t solid, if your website is mediocre and your content relevancy is an ongoing issue. This new direction for Google means that in the future it will be harder to get subpar, deceptive or broadly based content indexed.

You no longer will be able to “cast a broad net” to try and capture web traffic. It will be more difficult to prove relevance to Google for your phrases, and it will take more work in general to get sites optimized and ranked.

The best advice for anyone concerned about this change is to make certain that your website provides ongoing, fresh, and content that is directly relevant to your product, service, brand and message and – above all, you will need a deeper understanding of your website visitors.

Search engine optimization continues to matter—now more than ever. It’s just that now the basics matter a whole lot more too.